


Dust in the Wind

by Katzedecimal



Series: Frenemy Mine [7]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: American Sign Language, Crime Fighting, Deaf Character, Gen, Series 2, Sign Language, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 10:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5740342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katzedecimal/pseuds/Katzedecimal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The winds of change have blown a new metahuman into town.  Barry feels like his life is in a whirlwind, and who the heck robs restaurants anyways?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dust in the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my beta reader for this fic, Carohoku, whose first language is American Sign Language. Carohoku beta'd the ASL Gloss featured in this story and provided some of the learner's grammar and semi-gloss for the Flash's conversation with the Deaf woman. The Deaf woman's ASL Gloss may look very strange to English speakers unfamiliar with this method of transcribing ASL; hover your mouse over it to see the English interpretation :)

It was a dark and stormy evening and Barry Allen was having none of it. He sat in a dingy little coffee shop getting a coffee and pastry after work. Not his usual coffee shop, no. He really wasn't in the mood to watch Cisco try to hit on the baristas again. And his mood was as dismal as the weather. 

Because Patty Spivot had just waltzed right into STAR Labs and shot Harrison Wells. If Jay hadn't been there, Dr. Wells would have died. Because Patty hadn't shot to wound. 

_"The security in this place is shite."_ How long before one of their enemies just breezed in and wiped them all out? 

How long until Zoom did?

They **had** to start taking this seriously, all of them, and Patty... and Patty... 

Barry gulped his coffee, burning his throat. Joe's biological son, Wally West, had arrived and Joe and Iris had enough to handle, dealing with that. He didn't begrudge that, not at all, but... And he knew that Joe considered him to be just as much his son but... but maybe it was time to move out again?

The pain in his throat was gone. He took another long swig, just to feel it again. 

His phone buzzed. He took it out and listened to the voice mail message from Patty, enthusing about the date they had planned at the end of the week. She sounded so cheerful and excited about it. As if she hadn't nearly killed Dr. Wells. He really wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that. Why hadn't she shot to maim, to handicap? Even the Flash couldn't run with a ripped-up leg. He shook his head, uncertain how he was feeling or what he was supposed to think or what he did think. What he wasn't, was looking forward to his date. He wanted to but...

He took out his phone again and opened his Glide app. 'Hi!' he signed, 'There's-a-Deaf event Paint Nite happening in-two-weeks, you interested-in going-there?' He set the phone on the table and took another sip. He wasn't sure himself if he was ready to try attending a Deaf event, surrounded by native signers - he imagined himself staring like an uncomprehending deer and cringed. 

The phone buzzed and Barry tapped it to receive Hartley's video, 'Okay, how-much?'

'Forty dollars,' Barry signed back. 

'Okay, good. Sounds fun. Glide-me later?' 

'Yes okay. Now, must go-to running work.'

'Have a good evening,' Hartley grinned.

Barry smiled and slipped his phone back into his pocket, feeling better. Hartley was right, it did sound fun. They'd have to study art-related vocabulary, as well as how to order food and drinks, since it was being held in a pub. That would mean getting together a few more times. Now that, he was looking forward to. 

* * * * 

"Sorry I'm late," Barry said as he walked into the precinct the next day. He walked up to the desk and set a box down, "I stopped to get doughnuts."

"Oh sure, perpetuate the stereotypes about cops and doughnuts," Detective West said as he reached in and came up with a Boston cream. 

Barry chuckled and bit into a longjohn. "So what's new?"

"String of restaurant robberies. That's unusual in itself."

Patty frowned, "Restaurants don't usually have much of a cash float, they do most of their transactions with debit and credit cards."

Joe nodded, "Exactly. The complainants say it's food that's being stolen."

"Deliveries?"

Joe shook his head, "That's the other odd thing - the complainants are reluctant to share the details." He cocked an eyebrow at Barry, "Just keep an eye out when you're out and about, alright?"

"Sure thing," Barry said, "Anything else?"

Joe pulled up a series of images and arranged them on the monitor, "We've been getting reports about this." He started a video.

"Some kind of whirlwind? A dust devil, maybe?" Patty guessed. 

"Keep watching."

They stared as the whirlwind span down a sidewalk - then starting climbing the side of a building, tipped almost parallel to the ground. "Dust devils don't do _that,_ " Barry exclaimed. 

Patty shook her head, "They're not usually strong enough to shatter windows, either." She looked up at Joe, "Weather Wizard?"

"Possibly," Joe said, "Doesn't really look like the kind of thing he does, though. He usually calls tornadoes down and they don't usually look like that."

"They don't climb buildings either, look at that," Barry said, stopping the playback for a closer look. 

"Another meta-human? A new one?"

Joe shook his head, "Whatever it is, it's doing a lot of property damage."

"That is wild," Patty said, shaking her head, "Anything else?"

"That's it so far."

"Okay," she nodded, "I'll be right back, then I'll get started reviewing the footage."

"How's Wally doing?" Barry said quietly.

Joe shrugged, "He's out with his friends again. I don't know what they do or where they go but I'm hesistant to push anything, you know?"

Barry nodded, "Yeah. It's gotta be pretty delicate for you."

"More than it was with you," Joe smiled. His phone rang and he flicked it open and listened. "It's the dust devil," he told Barry, "Corner of Messner-Loebs Boulevard and LaRocque Avenue."

"I'm on it," Barry said and ran out of the room. A moment later, a flash of yellow lightning briefly lit the window. 

"Okay, I'm pretty sure I saw some green in..." Patty looked around as she came back into the room, "Where'd Barry go?"

"Oh, uh," Joe glanced around the room, "He went to get doughnuts."

* * * * 

Whatever this dust devil was, it wasn't natural. Natural dust devils don't run perpendicular up the sides of buildings. The Flash stared at it, opening gaping as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing. Though the wind column itself was taller, whatever was generating it was only about six feet tall, by the look of it. And there was definitely **something** inside of the whirlwind. As it sped down the building wall onto the road, Barry sped up, trying to match its speed to get a better look at it. He had just gotten a glimpse when the glass face of the building came down. 

There was no way he could outrun all of the shards raining down, there were just too many of them. He did his best to get everyone out of the way, but each scream pained him. When the deadly rain ended, he went to each person to check the severity of their lacerations. Thankfully, they all seemed to be superficial and could wait for the paramedics to arrive. 

He bandaged one man's arm and moved on to a woman sitting on the curb, staring at her bleeding cuts in shock. "How badly are you hurt?" She stared up at him uncomprehending, then tapped her ear. It took Barry a moment to understand. Then he swallowed and lifted his hands, 'You Deaf?'

Her eyes widened. 'YES-aff Ix:ME DEAF-aff. Ix:YOU KNOW fs-ASL Ix:YOU-q'

'A-little-bit,' The Flash replied, 'I learn sign language. Please patient. What your name?'

'fs:LARA.'

'Hi Lara, nice to-meet-you. How-much are-you hurt?'

'NOT-KNOW-neg' The woman forced herself calm enough to examine her arms and face, pulling a few splinters from her arms. 

While she examined herself, Flash pulled out his phone. 'Emergency services, I phone them, request ASL interpreter, OK?' When the call ended, he sighed. 'I'm-sorry. Too-many people, too-much glass. I will stay until interpreter come.'

'THANK-YOU' , she signed. The sirens closed in. 

* * * * 

"My man!!" Cisco crowed, rising to high-five Barry as he came in, "Not even **one** serious injury, how awesome is that??"

"Pretty awesome, I guess," Barry conceded, "But there were a lot of cuts and bruises. I just wish I could have been fast enough to prevent those, too."

"Barry, you're still only one person," Caitlin said, "And you **are** fast enough. All of those people could have been skewered if you hadn't been there but only a few even needed stitches. This is a win, Barry."

"She's right, Barry," Jay said, coming in. He passed Barry a coffee. "I understand how you feel, Barry, believe me. Believe me. I wasn't fast enough either. But she's right, you can't let yourself go down that road. You were fast enough to prevent serious injury and that's the most important thing."

"And what about this?" Cisco swiveled his monitor around to show video footage captured from a cell phone, "It's number one on YouTube right now -- 'The Flash signing to a Deaf fan', like what the hell, Barry, that is awesome!"

"I guess those sign language lessons are paying off," Caitlin grinned.

Barry smiled, "I never thought of that but I guess it was only a matter of time. It's making me think, that's for sure."

"Did you learn anything about the dust devil?"

Barry nodded, "Yes. It's definitely a new meta-human. I caught a glimpse of him before the wall let go."

"A _meta-human?_ " Cisco gaped, "He went right up the side of the building, how the hell could he do that?"

Barry looked at Jay, "I'm almost positive he's got the speed force. There's no other explanation and I could _feel_ it coming off of him when I matched his speed. The thing is, he's not running. I would swear he was twirling, like a top!"

Caitlin frowned, "How would he get the speed force?"

"Could he be from Earth-2?" Cisco looked at Jay.

Jay shrugged, "I'm not aware of any 'dust devils' from my world."

Caitlin looked back at Barry, "Why would he be twirling?"

Barry just shook his head, "You got me."

* * * *

It was a cold and clammy night and the Flash was doing his late-night rounds before going home to bed. Usually, anyways -- a pattern had started to emerge with the restaurant robberies and he was pretty sure that tonight, he could catch one in the act. He missed three of them before he realised what was happening, because they didn't look like robberies at all. 

Two men were trundling along the alleys, carrying insulated carriers. They'd walk up to the back door of a restaurant, ring the bell and speak with the kitchen staff. The staff would return with a stack of take-away cartons, which the pair would put into the carriers, then put into their rented SmartCar2Go. Barry had only realised that they were robberies when he recognised the man in the hooded cloak as, "Pied Piper!" 

Both men looked up. "Go, get out of here! I'll handle this," the Piper said to his accomplice and the Flash nearly choked on his own silence. The Piper took down his flute while the SmartCar sped away. "Good evening, Flash!"

Barry's breath exploded, " _Piper!_ What the heck do you think you're doing!?"

"I think I'm stealing unwanted food," Hartley replied. 

" _What?_ "

"Yeah! It's after hours, the restaurant's closed. This is leftover food and customers' rejects that would just go to waste otherwise. We're taking it to the Keystone Community kitchen, where it'll probably last about twenty minutes, if that."

Barry stared, baffled, "But can't they donate it themselves?"

"Nope, it's illegal. Health codes. Any leftovers, they have to chuck it. Even their own staff can't take it home with them, it all goes to waste."

"But what about the Community kitchen? Couldn't they get in trouble for accepting it?"

Hartley beamed, "Nope! We checked that out - there's no law against kitchens and shelters **accepting** food, only against restaurants giving it."

Barry rubbed the bridge of his nose, "So you're stealing it."

"Theft of goods and services, technically, yeah."

Barry pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. Stealing waste food to give to homeless shelters to get around the system... It made the kind of sense that showed all the flaws in the system, and if he weren't part of that system himself, he'd actually kind of approve, maybe. But... "Piper! There's a warrant out for your arrest!"

"For robbing restaurants for leftovers?"

" **Yes!** ... oh god, that sounds so stupid..."

Hartley grinned, "I am your best villain ever, Flash!"

"You are a nightmare!" Barry laughed back. Then he grew serious, "But... Geez, Piper, that kid who was helping you, do you even know who he _is?_ "

Piper frowned, puzzled, "Wally? Sure, he used to come to the kitchen sometimes, more often after his mother developed cancer. He hasn't been around much since she died but he says he's somewhere safe. Why?"

"Oh God! Oh my God.. And I can't even..." Barry broke off as his earlink chirped.

"What?"

Barry listened for a moment then groaned and wilted, "I was afraid of this. We're being watched and you've been recognised. I've been ordered to bring you in."

"For robbing restaurants for leftovers?"

Barry nodded, "And for extortion against Mason Stonebridge."

"Ah." The Pied Piper took out his phone and pressed a few buttons, then put it away and held out his hands. "Handcuffs and leather? - kinky," he winked. 

Barry laughed but shook his head. "I'm really sorry about this but at least you can get some sleep," he said and began to run in circles around the Pied Piper. 

"What do you mean...?" Piper began, then his world fogged out as the air was sucked from his lungs. 

Barry caught his friend as he sagged. "Sleep well, Hartley," he said softly. Then he scooped him up and ran towards STAR Labs and the Pipeline.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you were wondering, in the comics canon, the Pied Piper [really did steal food for the homeless](http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2014/10/26/almost-hidden-william-messner-loebs-run-on-flash/) and yes, did make Wally West be his thug for one of his rounds. One of my favourite issues.


End file.
